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Controlling Looper with MIDI?


Shrobaroo
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Here's what I want to do:

 

I'm running snapshots and have a looper block set-up, but I would like to make it so that when I switch snapshots, it triggers the looper to start at the beginning again so that if we have a bridge or chorus that isn't the exact same length as the verse, I can still be in time with the beginning of the loop, instead of coming back to it when the loop is already half-complete

 

I'm currently doing:

Snap 1 - play a verse - record a loop of it

Snap 2 - play a second verse - riff over loop

Snap 3 - play a bridge/chorus - looper is muted (no playback engaged on this snap)
back to Snap 1 - play a verse, but dang - Loop is out of sync

 

So, I'd LIKE to:

Snap 1 - play a verse - record a loop of it

Snap 2 - play a second verse - riff over loop

Snap 3 - play a bridge/chorus - looper is muted (no playback engaged on this snap)

back to Snap 1 - play a verse, trigger looper to start loop at beginning regardless of where it is currently

 

I'm certain this is possible, but I haven't figured it out. I imagine it has a lot to do with Command Centre, but I have no experience with that part of the Helix yet.

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In step 3 when you say Looper is muted, do you mean it continues to play/loop but you've just muted the sound? If so, try stopping the loop rather than muting it. Then when you start it again going back to Snap 1 it should start playback from the beginning. You can stop it with a well-timed foot stomp, or you can do so more conveniently using the 'Play Once' switch at any time during the last loop.

 

Note, though, that your tempo may have changed slightly while playing the bridge/chorus - we're only human. So there might be a detectable tempo change as the loop playback reverts things back to the original tempo.

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In step 3 when you say Looper is muted, do you mean it continues to play/loop but you've just muted the sound? If so, try stopping the loop rather than muting it. Then when you start it again going back to Snap 1 it should start playback from the beginning. You can stop it with a well-timed foot stomp, or you can do so more conveniently using the 'Play Once' switch at any time during the last loop.

 

Note, though, that your tempo may have changed slightly while playing the bridge/chorus - we're only human. So there might be a detectable tempo change as the loop playback reverts things back to the original tempo.

 

That's a totally workable solution, too, but I really haven't dug into how the looper works, so I feel like I'm using it incorrectly. 

 

I'm using Stomp/Snap mode and I have a footswitch assigned to looper and another assigned to playback. I'm using the playback to allow the looper to be audible in the snap. So I'm accessing the looper, recording a loop, hitting play, switching back to Stomp/Snap mode, then changing Snapshots. 

 

How do I tell the looper to start or stop playing upon Snapshot change???

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  • 1 month later...

I seem to remember reading something about running a loopback cable from MIDI OUT to MIDI IN and then using the SNAPSHOT to send MIDI CC info.  Look at the bottom of pg. 57 for the MIDI CC values for the looper.  I'll see if I can dink around with this tomorrow.

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^ I tend to agree Peter

 

If you have an iPad or an iPhone it's dead easy to connect it to Helix's USB via a Camera Connection Kit.  Then just get either LoopyHD or Group The Loop app and you're good to go!  Either of those apps cost less than £10 and have more features than almost all hardware loopers.

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I seem to remember reading something about running a loopback cable from MIDI OUT to MIDI IN and then using the SNAPSHOT to send MIDI CC info.  Look at the bottom of pg. 57 for the MIDI CC values for the looper.  I'll see if I can dink around with this tomorrow.

I tried this and wow, does the poor Helix get tangled in its shorts.  Now, I've got to try sending the commands externally (Reaper) and also hooking the MIDI output from the Helix to a MIDI monitor to see what's actually getting sent out the port.

 

> I always wonder if they shouldn't get a real, dedicated, full-featured looper...

 

I have a Voicelive 3, which has a pretty nice looper built-in, but I want to see how I can integrate the Helix with it, especially with MIDI control tying the two together.

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I tried this and wow, does the poor Helix get tangled in its shorts.  Now, I've got to try sending the commands externally (Reaper) and also hooking the MIDI output from the Helix to a MIDI monitor to see what's actually getting sent out the port.

 

> I always wonder if they shouldn't get a real, dedicated, full-featured looper...

 

I have a Voicelive 3, which has a pretty nice looper built-in, but I want to see how I can integrate the Helix with it, especially with MIDI control tying the two together.

 

Yeah, I tinkered a little bit with the command centre and didn't get very far with it. It seemed a little more cumbersome than it was worth.

 

^ I tend to agree Peter

 

If you have an iPad or an iPhone it's dead easy to connect it to Helix's USB via a Camera Connection Kit.  Then just get either LoopyHD or Group The Loop app and you're good to go!  Either of those apps cost less than £10 and have more features than almost all hardware loopers.

 

I'm looking for a solution to be able to play loops live. The above suggestion of using the Play Once to fire off loops as-needed seems like a viable option, I might have to look into it.

 

As soon as somebody wants to do something even the slightest bit sophisticated with the looper, I always wonder if they shouldn't get a real, dedicated, full-featured looper...

 

Yeah,  I noticed that this appears to be the attitude regarding the built-in looper. I'm really not into buying a looper just for a few sequences in a few songs. I don't have the board space for it, either. I'm gonna have to find a way to simply what I want to do with it, or just forget about it.

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